Hidemasa Morita
Morita with Japan in 2017
Personal information
Full name Hidemasa Morita[1]
Date of birth (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sporting CP
Number 5
Youth career
2005–2008 Takatsuki Shimizu FC
2008–2010 Takatsuki Ninth High School
2011–2013 Konko Osaka High School
2014–2018 Ryutsu Keizai University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Kawasaki Frontale 81 (1)
2021–2022 Santa Clara 48 (3)
2022– Sporting CP 43 (7)
International career‡
2018– Japan 31 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:27, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:20, 31 January 2024 (UTC)

Hidemasa Morita (守田 英正, Morita Hidemasa, born 10 May 1995) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Japan national team.

Club career

Kawasaki Frontale

In 2018, Morita joined Kawasaki Frontale. On February 10, he made his professional debut as a substitute in the Japanese Super Cup against Cerezo Osaka. On April 14, he made his first start in the league match against Vegalta Sendai.[3] After that, he managed to secure an active role in the team, and they would go on to win the J1 League title in 2018. In 2020, he was selected in the J-League Best Eleven,[4] along with eight other Kawasaki players as they would win the J1 League title again.

Santa Clara

On 8 January 2021, it was announced that Morita would sign for Portuguese club CD Santa Clara, in the Primeira Liga.[5] When he made his debut on 25 January, he netted his first goal for the club, scoring the winner in the 89th minute of a 2–1 victory over Rio Ave.[6]

Sporting CP

On 1 July 2022, it was announced that he would join Sporting CP on a permanent transfer.[7] He would go on to make his debut for the club against SC Braga on 7 August.[8] On 7 September, he made his Champions League debut against Eintracht Frankfurt.[9] On 30 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a win against Gil Vicente.[10]

International career

On 2 September 2018, Ryota Oshima and Hotaru Yamaguchi withdrew from the national team due to injury; Morita was called up to the Japan national team in their place for the first time in his first year as a professional.[11] He made his national team debut on 11 September, coming on against Costa Rica, the first game under new coach Hajime Moriyasu.

In January 2019, he was called up to the Japan national team for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 but withdrew due to injury.[12]

In March 2021, he was called up to the national team for the first time in just under two years, and on 30 March, he scored his first goal for the national team in a 14–0 win against Mongolia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.[13]

On 1 November 2022, Morita was named in the Japan squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 December 2023[15][16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kawasaki Frontale 2018 J1 League 26 0 4 0 0 0 5[c] 0 1[d] 0 36 0
2019 J1 League 23 0 2 0 4 1 4[c] 0 1[d] 0 34 1
2020 J1 League 32 1 2 0 4 0 — — 38 1
Total 81 1 8 0 8 1 9 0 2 0 108 2
Santa Clara 2020–21 Primeira Liga 20 2 1 0 0 0 — — 21 2
2021–22 Primeira Liga 28 1 1 0 3 0 6[e] 1 — 38 2
Total 48 3 2 0 3 0 6 1 — 59 4
Sporting CP 2022–23 Primeira Liga 29 6 1 0 2 0 9[f] 0 — 41 6
2023–24 Primeira Liga 14 1 0 0 0 0 5[g] 0 — 19 1
Total 43 7 1 0 2 0 14 0 0 0 60 7
Career total 172 11 11 0 13 1 29 1 2 0 227 13
  1. ^ Includes Emperor's Cup and Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Includes J.League Cup and Taça da Liga
  3. ^ a b Appearances in AFC Champions League
  4. ^ a b Appearance in Japanese Super Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  6. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 31 January 2024[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2018 2 0
2019 1 0
2020 0 0
2021 9 2
2022 8 0
2023 8 0
2024 3 0
Total 31 2
As of match played 31 January 2024. Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Morita goal.
List of international goals scored by Hidemasa Morita[17]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 30 March 2021 Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba, Japan  Mongolia 4–0 14–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 28 May 2021 Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba, Japan  Myanmar 6–0 10–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale

Individual

References

  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Japan (JPN)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 16. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Hidemasa Morita". Sporting CP. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  3. ^ "川崎F、家長ポスト2本など決め切れずスコアレス…仙台はJデビューの青森山田出身DF常田が完封貢献". ゲキサカ (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. ^ "[J.League Awards] Michael Olunga (Kashiwa Reysol) crowns the MVP to be the eighth top scoring player to double. Kawasaki Frontale produce nine members in the Best Eleven Players | News". J.LEAGUE. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. ^ AcoresPRO.com, André Amaral-. "Clube Desportivo Santa Clara » Oficial- Hidemasa Morita" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Hidemasa Morita nets winner in debut for Santa Clara". The Japan Times. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Morita joins Sporting CP". www.sporting.pt. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Draw against SC Braga opens 2022/23 season". www.sporting.pt. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Soccer: Morita assists opener as Sporting stun Kamada's Frankfurt". nippon.com. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Soccer: Morita nets 1st goal for Sporting in win over Gil Vicente". nippon.com. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. ^ "森保J初陣、山口蛍と大島僚太が不参加…代わって2選手を初招集へ". ゲキサカ (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Takashi Inui, Tsukasa Shiotani named as injury replacements for Japan's Asian Cup squad". The Japan Times. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. ^ AP (30 March 2021). "Japan routs Mongolia 14-0 in World Cup qualifying". www.business-standard.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  14. ^ Duerden, Greg LeaContributions from John; published, Ryan Dabbs (23 November 2022). "Japan World Cup 2022 squad: Team announced for tournament in Qatar". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  15. ^ Hidemasa Morita at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
  16. ^ Hidemasa Morita at Soccerway
  17. ^ a b "Hidemasa Morita". National Football Teams.

External links

Sporting CP – current squad
Japan squads
2020 J.League Team of the Year
Authority control databases
Categories